A Braves blog of statistics, numbers, and CPA-driven analysis about Atlanta and the rest of the NL East.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Braves @ Reds: Game 2 Recap

Beachy didn't fare a lot better than Minor in the freaking bandbox of a ballpark. It's a bunch of crap that they call it Great American ballpark when it's only 370 to right center. Left field is an even bigger joke. Solo shot after solo shot in this series is causing my blood pressure to go up a point every time a ball goes out. If I don't make it to the end of this series, give me a week to write a new recap because I've had a mild stroke.

So we gave up 4 runs again. Shockingly, all homers. Yet again. I HATE THIS BALLPARK ARGG...ok. Ok, settle down. You already did that. Move on. Sigh. Deep breathes. Ok. We had 6 hits this time which is better than two. If we continue that trend, we should have 10 today. That's me being positive. We were 0-3 with RISP which is sad because we only had 3 guys all game in scoring position. The highlight of the game was Michael Bourn, doing his best impression of the Little Engine that Could while the rest of the team did their best impression of a kitten caught in a paper bag. Bourn went 3/4 with 2 HRs and made up 66% of our offense. If we win, he gets the MVP easily. As such, I don't give MVPs for losses. He gets a solemn nod and a punch on the shoulder to keep his chin up.

As for the rest of the hitters, here is my message to you. Just because Chip is out of the lineup doesn't mean you can completely change your approach. SUCK IT UP! Uggla needs to be better in the cleanup spot. We can't have him with only one hit on the series sitting in the 4 hole. Also, our 6-7-8 combo this series is beyond awful. The back end hitters in those slots are a combined 1/20 in these games. Normally, our 6-7-8 hitters on the season have been hitting a combined .269 average. Right now it's a .050 average. Gee, I wonder why our runs are down? Hmmm. That must improve at the back end because I guarantee we will have 3-4-5 hitters on base that need knocking in.

Pitching was adequate. Beachy made some mistakes in 7 innings and they went yard. Was it great? Nope, and it wasn't enough to win. However, it wasn't a disaster by any stretch. Beachy was simply taken advantage of by the ballpark. You could probably say the same thing about Minor, but I'm down on Minor anyway because of his prior starts in normal stadiums. Beachy is a complete pitcher, Minor isn't. The problem for Beachy was too many fly balls. He wasn't locating in the bottom of the zone, and his mistakes upstairs were belted. The big difference was the 2 run shot in the 1st inning. Beachy has 2 outs and Phillips in a full count, so he threw him a fast ball. He just laid it out there and said hit it, because he didn't want to face the slugger Jay Bruce with 2 on. It's not a bad decision because Phillips only had 2 HRs on the year going into the game, and Bruce has 10 with a .550 slugging percentage. Phillips simply caught up with it and took it out in any ballpark, let alone Great American. Tip your hat and move on. The second Phillip homer was a 386 foot duck that should have been on the warning track at a real stadium, but OH WELL!

Moving on to tonight. Hanson v. Arroyo. I hate to say it's a must-win for the series, but it is just that. You can't lose this game and go into the fourth with Delgado on the mound trying to avoid a sweep. So Braves fans, get out your lucky shirts, grab your tomahawks, make a sacrfice to the Bat Gods, and do your part to help us win this game!

About Me

I come home from a long day of cranking the adding machine, and during baseball season I know that almost every night at 7PM, the Braves will be there. They are like a comforting sports night lite. I fully admit to doing the Chop in my own living room, by myself, in order to get a rally going. I also admit to getting entirely too involved in the games by yelling at the TV. My neighbors probably think I'm insane. They may be correct.
I'm also a devout Christian, and a friend of Jesus. I enjoy discussing the Bible and teaching a class at my local church.